The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of a mobile material processing machine.
In its more particular aspects, the invention relates to a new and improved construction of a mobile material processing machine comprising a support frame supporting the material processing machine and supported, in turn, on wheels such that the material processing machine can be moved to different working locations and/or displaced to different positions at a given working location during a material processing operation.
A material processing machine like, for example, a sieve device such as known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,528, granted May 22, 1990, to the applicant of the instant application, is provided with a support frame supporting the sieve device and supported, in turn, on wheels. For displacement at a particular working location and for travel between different working locations, a coupling device is provided at a front end of the support frame for engagement with a towing vehicle such as a tractor or truck or the like.
A further mobile material processing machine such as known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,816, granted Aug. 1, 1989, to the applicant of the instant application, comprises a shredder supported at a support frame or chassis which, in turn, is supported on wheels fixedly attached to the support frame near the rear end thereof. Removable supports are provided for resting the front end of the support frame at a working location during operation of the shredder. The front end is also provided with a drawbar and coupling means. The coupling means can be engaged by a shovel loader, which is used to feed the material to be processed to the shredder, in order to slightly lift the front end and, then, displace the shredder to a different position at the particular working location. For travel to different working locations, the supports are removed and the coupling means are engaged with a towing vehicle such as a tractor or truck or the like.
The shredder of the aforementioned type has been further modified so as to enable remote control of the displacement of the shredder at a given working location. To this end, a shredder is supported by two pairs of wheels and the front pair of wheels, as viewed in the displacement direction of the shredder, is provided with hydraulic drive means. The hydraulic drive means include drive rolls and engagement means for engaging the drive rolls and the associated front wheels. The drive rolls are drivingly connected with a hydraulic motor through gear means; the hydraulic motor is controlled by hydraulic control means which, in turn, are under remote control so that the displacement of the shredder at a given working location can be controlled by the operator of the shovel loader utilized for charging the shredder. In this manner, a one-man operation of the shredder is ensured.
The aforementioned modified shredder may contain a tandem axle for movably supporting the same. Such tandem axle comprises a pair of axles series arranged relatively close to each other as compared to the total length of the support frame. Usually, the tandem axle is located rearwardly of the center of gravity of the support frame as viewed in the travelling direction so as to ensure that the required minimum load of 10,000 Newton is effective at a towing vehicle such as a tractor or truck used for moving the mobile machine between different locations. It is thereby ensured that the support frame can not tilt to the rear and thus undesirably reduce the road adherence of the towing vehicle such as a tractor or truck or the like.
The support frame of the aforementioned mobile material processing machines carries standard equipment of machine elements but may be provided with various additional machine elements depending on the type of employment and the type of material to be processed at the various possible working locations. As a consequence of such structural change, the center of gravity varies as a function of the particular equipment supported at the support frame with the result of a variation in the load which becomes effective at the towing vehicle.